Project-Based Learning: Lessons Learned with Teaching the Non-Communication Majors

Family communication, as an upper-level communication course, attracts communication majors and students studying in other disciplines. As such, instructors employ pedagogies that appeal to both majors and non-majors. This essay reflects on how I used project-based learning (PBL) in a family communication course filled with mostly non-majors. The essay highlights my rationale for choosing PBL, provides an explanation of the PBL activity, describes how PBL addresses two key problems I experienced in teaching the family communication course, and offers conclusions regarding lessons learned

“Surveilling the Maternal Body”: A Critical Examination through Foucault’s Panopticon

This article analyzes my personal experience of having a maternal body through autoethnographic means. Being pregnant is a time of celebration, but moms experience private and public changes in their bodies. These public changes continue during the postpartum period. Ground in Foucault’s panopticon, this paper explores how the maternal body undergoes self-surveillance as well as surveillance by the proverbial others. I provide vignettes and personal experiences to highlight the panopticon: moms self-surveil but moms are also being surveilled when in the public eye. I make the argument of how the maternal body is a site of surveillance often used to judge the goodness of the mother or the usefulness of the maternal body. I conclude with a suggestion of how the panopticon can be used to examine parenting practices

When Education Ceases to be Public: The Privatization of the New Orleans School System After Hurricane Katrina

This study examines the privatization movement in the post-Katrina New Orleans education system. Less than a month after Katrina, a well-financed charter school movement was moving swiftly through the ravaged city. Nationally, a network of right-wing think tanks and school choice advocates descended on New Orleans shortly after the storm. Locally, state legislators and local leaders pushed from the inside for reform in the way of charter schools. Aided by a state takeover of schools and federal and corporate financing, the great experiment had begun. This study strives to cut through the façade of the charter school movement, and to investigate and explain the real motivations of the expected outcomes of the privatizers. Finally, the current injustices caused by the experiment being conducted in New Orleans are reviewed as an extension of the historical racial inequities of the school system

Examining the Sustainability of Restored Sub-Tidal Oyster Reefs in Coastal Louisiana

Climate related alterations and anthropogenic disturbance threaten the ecological integrity and sustainability of coastal estuaries. Many activities seek to restore and sustain these at-risk areas with the goal of restoring systems to historic patterns of succession and community development; however long-term monitoring of restoration projects remains limited. Additionally, restoration efforts aim to achieve certain success thresholds, however, these thresholds are often vague, absent, or inconsistent, and receive little long-term analyses following restoration. A key coastal engineer, the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), provides multiple ecosystem services, but recent population decline has prompted investment in restoration. Restoration activities include cultch planting, reef enhancement, incorporation into living shorelines, and hatchery construction for oyster seed. This work examines restoration trajectories and project sustainability for two oyster restoration projects in coastal Louisiana. Here I quantify on-reef oyster density and demography, adjacent shoreline movement, and water filtration services for a living shoreline project in Sister Lake Louisiana 11 years post-construction (2009 – 2020), as well as examine the outcomes of oyster restoration projects implemented across Louisiana as part of the early restoration funding from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Restored reefs persisted through time but decreased in integrity and robustness 2-3 years post-restoration. Declines were likely influenced by sub-optimal water quality (i.e., salinity) and heavy localized harvest. Despite these declines, reefs still provided crucial ecosystem services (i.e., water filtration) to estuarine habitats. While success thresholds vary between restoration projects, I suggest restoration success thresholds may incorporate three different performance criteria (achievement of target densities; provision of ecosystem services; achievement of harvest quotas). For these criteria to be met and detected, incorporation of long-term monitoring and adaptative management are crucial. This work provides critical information for managers on the outcomes of oyster restoration projects and explains specific variables which influence project sustainability

Immobilization of Gold Nanoparticles for Colourimetric Detection of Biofilms on Surfaces

Biofilms in contact lens cases amplify the risk of microbial and infiltrative keratitis, which can lead to severe eye damage and vision loss. A method warning users of biofilm contamination on the contact lens case surface is needed so they can discontinue use of the case to prevent related eye infections. Biosensors based on gold nanoparticles in solution are being explored as they can provide a simple colourimetric sensor response to bacteria. However, for consumer-level applications, gold nanoparticle-based biosensors need to be immobilized onto a surface to reduce potential health risks associated with nanomaterial exposure. This thesis focuses on the development of an immobilized gold nanoparticle biosensor for the colourimetric detection of biofilms on surfaces. Development of the biosensor begins with controlling the deposition of gold nanoparticles onto the surface, as their immobilization state dictates the optical properties critical to the sensor performance. A literature review of the current methods to immobilize colloidal gold nanoparticles demonstrates that there are a variety of strategies to control the immobilization state. Building on current strategies, a new method to immobilize charged gold nanoparticles is explored through modification of the surface with weak polyelectrolytes. By varying the deposition pH of weak polyelectrolytes, the electrostatic immobilization of gold nanoparticles can be tuned from dispersed particles to large three-dimensional particle aggregates, producing a broad range of optical properties. The ability to modulate the immobilization state is dependent on the polyelectrolyte used as well as the particle size. Using the developed method, an optimal immobilization state of the gold nanoparticles is used to create the colourimetric biosensor. Having populations of both single and small clusters of gold nanoparticles on the surface, a visible colour change from red to blue is produced with an increase in refractive index. This biosensor surface is capable of detecting biofilms from Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Achromobacter xylosoxidans visually and through simple image analysis. Finally, the colourimetric biosensor was successfully integrated onto and capable of detecting the presence of biofilm on plastic substrates, including a commercial contact lens case. This work demonstrates the capabilities of this immobilized gold nanoparticle biosensor as a new platform for the detection of biofilms on surfaces. In addition to biofilm detection in contact lens cases, this technology can be exploited for biofilm detection in healthcare, food services and water treatment industries.4 month

Task Force on the StaffWeb: Final Report

On 30 March 1999, a StaffWeb Committee was created to make recommendations about the future development, content, and maintenance of the StaffWeb. This is a final report

Basolateral to Central Amygdala Neural Circuits for Appetitive Behaviors

Basolateral amygdala (BLA) principal cells are capable of driving and antagonizing behaviors of opposing valence. BLA neurons project to the central amygdala (CeA), which also participates in negative and positive behaviors. However, the CeA has primarily been studied as the site for negative behaviors, and the causal role for CeA circuits underlying appetitive behaviors is poorly understood. Here, we identify several genetically distinct populations of CeA neurons that mediate appetitive behaviors and dissect the BLA-to-CeA circuit for appetitive behaviors. Protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 1B⁺ BLA pyramidal neurons to dopamine receptor 1⁺ CeA neurons define a pathway for promoting appetitive behaviors, while R-spondin 2⁺ BLA pyramidal neurons to dopamine receptor 2⁺ CeA neurons define a pathway for suppressing appetitive behaviors. These data reveal genetically defined neural circuits in the amygdala that promote and suppress appetitive behaviors analogous to the direct and indirect pathways of the basal ganglia. Keywords: central amygdala; basolateral amygdala; direct and indirect pathways; appetitive; reward; fear; amygdala circuit; feeding; drinking; freezingNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant T32GM007287

Basin-scale, integrated observations of the early 21st century multiyear drought in southeast Australia

The Murray-Darling Basin in southeast Australia is experiencing one of the most severe droughts observed recently in the world, driven by several years of rainfall deficits and record high temperatures. This paper provides new basin‐scale observations of the multiyear drought, integrated to a degree rarely achieved on such a large scale, to assess the response of water resources and the severity of the drought. A combination of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data with in situ and modeled hydrological data shows the propagation of the water deficit through the hydrological cycle and the rise of different types of drought. Our observations show the rapid drying of soil moisture and surface water storages, which reached near‐stationary low levels only ∼2 years after the onset of the drought in 2001, with a loss of ∼80 and ∼12 km3 between January 2001 and January 2003, respectively. The multiyear drought has led to the almost complete drying of surface water resources which account for most of the water used for irrigation and domestic purposes. High correlation between observed groundwater variations and GRACE data substantiates the persistent reduction in groundwater storage, with groundwater levels still declining 6 years after the onset of the drought (groundwater loss of ∼104 km3 between 2001 and 2007). The hydrological drought continues even though the region returned to average annual rainfall during 2007